Viridian and Velvet
by Arae Arca
Summary: When Meg and Alys meet each other in Diagon Alley, it's the beginning of a great friendship... and a greater adventure. FredOC & GeorgeOC. Cowritten by Pyra Opal. NOW WITH PICTURES!
1. Two Letters

**MEGHAN**

I got my letter two months before school started. Despite having a wizard father- and a famous one at that- I had absolutely no idea about the magical world AT ALL.

On that fateful morning, we – that is, Dad, Mum and I – were sitting having breakfast as normal, cereal with two slices of toast afterwards. Except it wasn't completely normal. Dad was fidgeting, looking tense about something, or perhaps expectant. Mum seemed excited too- she kept on glancing through the hallway towards the front door, as if expecting Santa to walk right through it.

Eventually I heard the letter-box open, and a letter pushed through it.

At once it was obvious that this was what they had both been waiting for. They almost leaped out of their seats, but seemed to restrain themselves and settle back into their chairs, exchanging delighted looks.

"Will you get that, Meghan?" Dad asked, far too casually.

I stood up, mystified, and walked towards the front door. It can't be a birthday card, I thought. My birthday was ages ago – well, May, anyway. So what is it?

By that time I'd reached the door. I saw a small envelope, made of some sort of yellowish, handmade paper, with my name on it:

_Miss M. Viridian_

_The Warmest Bedroom_

_4 Sycamore Grove_

_Elgin_

_Morayshire_

_SCOTLAND_

I noticed that it didn't have a stamp. That meant that it was from one of Dad's work-colleagues, as he called them, who seemed to have a special permit to forget stamps. And a strange tendency to address letters very… precisely. He always said it was a joke. They also usually had some sort of seal…

Sure enough, when I turned it over, there was a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms: a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'.

"Bring it through, Meg," called Mum from the kitchen.

I walked back through and sat down. Both my parents looked at me expectantly.

"Well?" asked Dad. "Are you going to open it or not?"

I slid my finger underneath the fold of the envelope, enjoying the feel of the handmade parchment, breaking the seal. I pulled out two sheets of paper and read the upper one first.

I finished it and looked across at Dad. "Is this a joke?" I said suspiciously.

"Read it aloud!" urged Mum.

I did so:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss Viridian, _

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. _

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely, _

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

I looked from Dad to Mum several times. "Is this a trick?" I demanded again. "A school of witchcraft and wizardry? Is this some prank you two thought up?"

Dad smiled. "Nope. I can prove it to you. Watch."

From his sleeve, he took out a long thin stick. I watched without any particular surprise. The stick had been around for as long as I could remember- no, wait, there was that time he broke it and sent off to some _shop_ for another one. I could never tell whether he was doing something to confuse me or because it somehow mattered.

He waved the stick around, with a sort of swish and flick. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he commanded.

His teacup started levitating.

I stared.

He smirked at me. "Still think I'm making this up?"

I found my voice. "How did you do that?" I exclaimed.

"By magic," he answered simply.

"You're a wizard? How come you never told me?"

Mum stepped in here. "We both thought you would benefit growing up in the Muggle world-"

"Muggle?"

"Non-magic people, like me," she explained. "Anyway, the world of magic is a bit… weird. I entered it about a year after I met your father, right after he proposed."

She sighed. "Some wizards are so out of touch with Muggle life, with electricity and computers and everything. Even your dad, and he was from a half-wizard, half-Muggle family. So, when we married and had you, we both agreed that it would probably be better for you if you didn't know about our world- at least until you were old enough to go to Hogwarts." Her eyes sparkled. "We also thought it would be much more exciting for you. Oh, Meg, it's fantastic the stuff they do! There's a whole group of magical streets in London, only open to wizards and their families, with loads of shops selling all kind of things- broomsticks, cauldrons, owls, spell books-"

Dad smiled. "I've never really found it that exhilarating. Your mother is far too excitable."

Mum gave him a mock-angry glare and raised a newspaper threateningly. He put his hands up in a gesture of peace and turned back to me. "Beside, we were worried that the fame would go to your head," he said casually.

My ears pricked up. "Fame?"

Mum rolled her eyes as Dad leaned forwards, obviously bursting to tell me about this fame. "You know how I'm a writer?" he said. I nodded and he continued. "Well, I don't actually write for science magazines, as I told you. I actually write books. Spell-books, to be exact. I go by the pen name of Professor Vindictus Viridian, and my best-selling book is _Curses and Counter-Curses_." He winked at me. "Well, perhaps 'curses' is too strong a word. They're not exactly curses. They're more like hexes. Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, that sort of thing. And I always include the reversal charms for them."

"Only because I make you," Mum snorted.

"Anyway, my book is really quite famous. Younger witches and wizards use them the most, which means your generation. So you'll be quite a celebrity." He coughed. "One thing, though- don't tell anyone my real name, unless they're a good friend and won't blab. It wouldn't do for everyone to know Professor Vindictus Viridian was actually Professor Daniel Viridian, would it? That makes me sound too old and wise."

I grinned at him. "So I'm magic?"

"Yup," he said happily.

"How come I've not done anything before?"

"Oh, you have," said Mum wryly. "Remember that time with the spoon puppet? Well then."

My eyes widened. "You're not saying it actually did come alive? I thought it was just one of Dad's tricks!"

"Nope. Not me."

And that's how it began. A whole new world opened up to me, a whole new adventure started, just by something as simple as opening a letter.

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I'd not been magical. What would life have been like? Not half as exciting, that's for sure. I'd never have met Alys or the Weasley brothers, though the last could be counted as more of a curse than a blessing. I wouldn't have seen dragons or any other of the many magical creatures I've become acquainted with. I wouldn't have ridden a broomstick, one of the best things ever if you ask me, nor received one of the best wizarding jobs possible. I wouldn't have gone to Hogwarts. In fact, life would have been really boring.

No point worrying about it. I _am_ magical. And that's the best thing ever.

**

* * *

**

**ALYS**

As usual I woke up early. As usual I reached under my pillow and grabbed the knife underneath. As usual when I opened my eyes I barely refrained from screaming. I guess this is where I should explain myself. You see my dad is an Auror, a dark wizard catcher. He got it into his head that I needed to be able to defend myself so from an early age has trained me. This involves waking up to find he's left some monster in your room.

This time it was pixies. As soon as they saw my eyes open they immediately swarmed down on me, pulling at my blonde hair and snapping at my fingers. I swiped at one with my knife and it disappeared with a puff of blue smoke. I quickly got dressed and ignored the pixies. They couldn't do me any lasting damage, unlike that blast-ended screwt a month ago. I simple ran out the door. Our house-elf, Woody, would take care of them.

As I made my way down to the kitchen I realised a pixie still followed me, I lunged at it and it disappeared with a giggle. I entered the kitchen and smiled at my mother who was eating a slice of toast and listening to the radio. She was already dressed in her Healer robes. I sat down and looked suspiciously at my porridge. I sniffed it and caught the faint smell of a sleeping draught.

"Mum, can I have some food that dad didn't poison?"

My mother smiled and handed me some toast just as my father walked in. I quickly pushed the bowl in front of him hoping to catch him out. It didn't work. He just looked at it and laughed as he ruffled my hair, "You'll have to do better than that Alys, though well done in spotting it." That was when the owl flew in and landed in the porridge.

I grabbed the letter and was about to pass it to my dad when I realised it was addressed to me in bright green ink. I turned it over and saw the seal. It was what I'd been expecting. I opened it and quickly scanned the page before letting out a shriek and flinging my arms around mum. She picked up the letter and shrieked as well, crushing my ribs as she hugged me.

Finally my dad picked up the letter. He beamed and walked over to the fireplace. He stuck his head in and dropped the floo powder. We could hear him telling his boss, "I'm not going to make it into today Arnold, I've got to go help my daughter buy her stuff from school. She's going to Hogwarts!"


	2. Chance Encounters

**Well, here's chapter 2. Hope you all like it! And please please review 'cause we need a confidence boost! **

**Disclaimer: I (Arae Arca) don't own anything but Meg and her parents. Pyra owns Alys and her father. The rest is all the product of J K Rowling's imagination. **

**

* * *

****MEGHAN**

Many people identify the beginning of their time at Hogwarts as the moment they first set foot on the Hogwarts Express. For me, it started with my first ever trip to Diagon Alley, and meeting Alys Velvet for the first time.

We literally bumped into one another. At the time I was gawking at the many shops in Diagon Alley. So many different shops! Wow, Mum really wasn't exaggerating. I couldn't stop my mouth dropping open as each new shop came into view. Florish & Blotts, Eeylops Owl Emporium, even a wizard's bank!

So it was little surprise when I bashed into a girl about my own age with dark blonde hair and green eyes.

What _was_ surprising was my father's reaction.

"Alan? Is that _you_?"

The other wizard seemed surprised, then looked closer. "Daniel! Why, you old devil! I had no idea you'd started balding _already_!"

Instead of being dreadfully insulted, my father threw back his head and laughed heartily. "Glad to see your tongue hasn't been blunted in the Ministry! How's Aurorship treating you?"

Alan waved a hand. "Oh, all right, been training my little girl here to follow in my footstep, you know. She can already tell when I've slipped something into her food. This girl yours Daniel?"

Dad slapped a palm against his forehead. "Of course! Where are my manners? Alan, this is Meghan. You remember her?"

Alan's face widened in astonishment. "This is your daughter? Why, you were just a baby when I last saw you, Meghan! I am very pleased to meet you… again. I suppose you're starting Hogwarts? Alys here just got the letter this morning." He looked slyly at my father. "Why don't you two girls go into Quality Quidditch Supplies? Daniel has quite a bit of explaining to do. Starting with whether he was _intentionally_ making my life harder when he wrote that book on hexes."

It wasn't a very subtle hint.

Alys gave me a big smile, then beckoned me over to a shop with lots of mannequins dressed in strange, brightly-coloured robes (a lot like football strips, I thought) and some broomsticks.

I stopped when I saw the broomsticks. "Witches and wizards don't _really_ fly on broomsticks, do they?" I asked, dumfounded.

Alys looked at me in surprise. "Of course. Didn't you know? I thought your dad was a wizard."

"Yes, but he and Mum decided not to tell me about all this." I waved a hand at the busy street. "They thought it would be good for me to experience Muggle life. Not to mention the fact that they thought it would be more exciting…"

"That's a great idea!" Alys exclaimed. Her face brightened with excitement. "This is going to be fun! I get to tell you everything!"

I grinned back at her, caught up in her enthusiasm. I had hardly said more than a few sentences to Alys, but I already liked her. "So, what first?"

She pulled me towards the shop window. "Well," she began, "first of all, there's Quidditch…"

* * *

**ALYS**

The girl, Meghan, was astounded by the idea of Quidditch and soon after trying to explain it all to her, I decided it was time to get our wands. Our dads had given us the money so what was the point in waiting? I quickly dragged her into Ollivanders and we sat down on two spindly legged chairs and waited for him to come.

"So do you know loads of wizards then?" she asked looking around the dark shop with interest.

"No, dad thought it would be best if I mixed with Muggle children. Part of my training. You know, so that I know how to blend in with a crowd. I do know a boy called Lee Jordan who's also starting Hogwarts this year, and a girl called Angelina Johnson."

"Training?" Meghan sounded puzzled.

"Yeah my dad's an Auror, a dark wizard catcher. He's convinced that I'll become one too so he started teaching me how to defend myself and recognise poisons and fit in anywhere. He almost killed me once, mistook a fire lizard for an ordinary lizard and it set my room on fire. That's how I got this," I pointed at the scar on the corner of my eye.

Meghan looked impressed. "How…"

She never finished that sentence as a voice from behind us made us both turn round. "Ahhh, two new students."

Behind us was a tall, thin man who looked at us curiously. "I am Mr Ollivander. Now which one of you would like to go first?"

We both stared for a minute before I raised a tentative hand. "I'll go first." He smiled and asked me to stand up and brought out a tape measure. I held out my right hand and he measured my arms, my torso, my legs and my nostrils before browsing the shelves.

"Hmm… Try this one- 10 and ½ inches, oak and dragon heartstring, a traditional combination." I waved and Meg's chair threw her off. Ollivander snatched the wand back quickly before I could do any more damage. "No, try this then - willow and phoenix feather, 7 inches, quite whippy." The paper on the counter burst into flame. "Nope no good, now this one is pine and unicorn hair." It didn't work either. My arm was starting to hurt when he handed me yet another wand. It was 11 and ½ inches, mahogany with a single unicorn hair. It felt right in my hand and I suddenly remembered a simple spell my dad had taught me.

"Wingardium Leviosa," I said, and waved the wand like my father had shown me. The chair I had been sitting on began to float into the air. I was so stunned that I lost my concentration and it fell.

"Excellent," Ollivander said sounding pleased. "Now..." He turned to Meghan. "Would you like to stand up please?"

Meghan looked nervous but stood up. Ollivander measured her right hand and handed her a wand. A glass of water on the counter exploded. Similar incidents happened with ten other wands until Ollivander handed her a 13 inch cedar wand with dragon heartstring. She stood there for a moment and then waved it. Sparks shot out and I ducked before they could singe my hair.

"That's the one." Ollivander wrapped up both our wands, took our gold and then we left.

We found our fathers slurping huge ice-creams outside Florian Fortescue's ice cream parlour. By making them feel extremely guilty, we managed to persuade them to get us some as well. We chatted happily as we ate them and then as we left promised to find each other on the train.

"So," my dad said as we moved through the crowds. "Did you like Meghan?"

"Yeah, she's great."


	3. Quidditch & Cookies

**Quite a bit of explanations in this chapter, but then, Meg has to learn this kind of stuff from somewhere. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I own Meg and her family, Pyra owns Alys and _her_ family, JK Rowling owns everything else.**

**

* * *

**

**ALYS**

Both Meghan and I lived in Scotland, and we both had lots of Muggle friends. This was a big problem- more so for Meg than for me. We were so used to hanging around with our non-magic pals that when they went back to school on the 21st of August we had nearly _two weeks _of boredom to live through.

Our dads found a solution to that. Seeing as how we were both bored out of our skulls, they reasoned that it would be better if we were bored out of our skulls together- at least then we'd both have company (we're both the only children in our families).

We both knew it was just an excuse for them to go to Pride of Portree Quidditch matches together…

I smiled at Meg who was looking around my bedroom in amazement. She stared at the picture of my Quidditch team, The Sirens. The players waved merrily at her but she seemed to think this was wrong.

"Do people always move in your photos?" she asked with slightly wide eyes.

"Yeah, you just have to dip it into this potion. You could try it with some of your photos when we get to Hogwarts."

At the mention of the word Hogwarts we both looked at my calendar. Ten days left to go before we'd be training to become proper witches. It's a pity all our classmates were back at school. We still had ages of time to wait.

"So," said Meg in a voice that told me she'd been waiting for ages to ask me this, "have you got a broomstick?"

"Of course! I've got the latest Comet. Come on I'll show you how to fly, you can use my dad's broom." I grabbed her arm and pulled her out the room, shouting to my mum as I went. "I'm just going to teach Meg how to fly, we'll be back for lunch."

Meg followed me as we went out into the garden and up the rocky path towards the forest behind my house. I should explain- I live in this really remote area of the Scottish Highlands because, as Mum put it, there isn't really much point in living where there are loads of Muggles and it's really easy to be spotted flying. And Mum and Dad get to work via Floo powder anyway.

"Is this all yours?" Meg asked as we entered the fringes of the woods, awe plain on her face.

I nodded proudly. "I grew up in this forest. I think Mum inherited it from a great-aunt or something. Bit of a shock for her as she was disowned by her father."

"There are so many strange plants here! What's that?"

I pulled her quickly away from the large tree she was pointing towards. "That's a Whomping Willow. They're really rare. You don't want to go near one, trust me." To demonstrate my point I threw a stone at the tree and it lashed out at it sending the stone back towards us. We ducked and I grabbed a twig. "As long as you know the right spot then you can disarm it." I whacked a bit of rotten wood onto its trunk and the tree stopped fighting.

We walked onwards until we came to a small clearing with mini Quidditch goals on either side. "What are they?" asked Meg curiously.

"They're goalposts," I explained making my way over to the storage cupboard. I tossed her a broom and took own Comet 260. "Right. You're going to have to be able to fly before we can play Quidditch. First step is getting your broom to accept you as its rider. Just lay the broom on the ground and say 'Up!', ok?"

Meg nodded and laid the broom on the ground. "Up," she said tentatively. The broom twitched a bit, but didn't go up. She looked at me, confused.

"Be a bit more confident," I encouraged. She nodded and said in a more assertive voice, "Up!" This time the broom shot straight into her open hand. She gripped it, pleased.

"Ok now we have to mount the brooms." I showed her how and corrected her grip.

"You ready to fly?" I grinned at her.

She nodded, her face looking both eager and a bit apprehensive at the same time.

"Ok, kick off!" I launched myself into the sky and looked back at her. She was staring at me, open-mouthed. "Come on!" I said, impatiently. She nodded and kicked off from the ground, rising from the air in a smooth motion.

"Well done!" I said, pleased. "You're a natural flyer!"

She smiled and did a slow circle around me, getting the feel of the broom.

We spent the next hour just mucking around on the brooms. I showed her all of the many tricks I'd learned while playing Quidditch with my friends Lee and Angelina, and she experimented with some of her own, basic corkscrews and that sort of thing. I looked at my watch as I came smoothly into land.

"Lunch time!" I said, slightly hyper after the flight. "Hey, after lunch Lee and Angelina are coming over. Maybe we can do a little Quidditch with them. What do you say?"

Meg smiled. "If you teach me how to play," she said.

**

* * *

**

**MEG**

The rest of the day passed as only fun days can- very quickly. I met Lee and Angelina and they were both really, really nice. We also played Quidditch. I was a bit confused by the game at first, but then Alys explained it to me properly and I realised that it was really just a dangerous version of basketball, which I'd always been good at. Alys was impressed by my aim- she said I was a natural Chaser. She herself was also best in the Chaser position, although she was also a good Seeker. Angelina was another excellent Chaser, but Lee wasn't as good as any of us and was resigned to being a substandard Keeper.

Well, when I say 'resigned'…

"I hate being a Keeper!" Lee moaned. "Why can't we play with Bludgers? That's always more exciting!"

"Because," Angelina explained patiently, "it's Meg's first time and she's not good at dodging yet."

"And I don't know what my parents would say if I brought her back as a pulverised mess," Alys added. She caught my expression. "I'm exaggerating," she said hastily. "Bludgers don't pulverise people."

"At least, not usually," said Lee, smirking. When he said this Alys and Angelina zoomed over and hit him over the back of the head and he almost slipped off his broom.

After the Quidditch game, I came back to Alys' house to find a big plate of larger-than-normal cookies that shouted out your fortune when you bit into them.

"Fortune cookies, Velvet-style," explained Alys. "Mum doesn't like the Chinese ones, she prefers good-old chocolate chip. Although she likes the idea of ones that tell fortunes."

I bit into my own. It squawked, "You will meet a tall, red, handsome stranger!"

"Red?" I asked, bemused.

Alys took a chunk out of her own, and it gave her the exact same message. She shrugged. "I think mum makes up the fortunes herself..."

"Or maybe… you're going to cheat on me!" I mock-accused her.

"ME!"

Her mum came back in and smiled at us both. "Enjoying yourself, Meghan?"

I smiled and nodded. "Yes, very much. Thank you for the cookies, Mrs Velvet."

"Oh, just call me Caline. I hate getting all formal with people. My patients _never _address me by my end name."

"Well, apart from grandfather, but he always was a pain in the-"

"Alys!" warned her mother.

"Well, it's true…" Alys tried to protest. Her mother just sighed and grabbed the last cookie on the plate before taking the empty plate away.

I didn't want to seem nosy but I was curious. "You get on well with your grandfather I see."

Alys had a sheepish grin on her face. "Well I never actually met him. He disowned mum after she committed the ultimate crime and married someone without his consent. And the _someone_ was a muggle-born wizard no less. Oh the shame!" Alys threw an arm over her face in apparent shock.

I laughed, then asked, "But what's so bad about muggle-borns?"

"Nothing, but you see some pure-blood families, like the Lestranges- mum's lot -got it into their heads that they're better than all the rest because all their descendants had been wizards. They thought that it would be awful to have Muggle blood mix with their own. The result is they usually end up marrying cousins. Mum was supposed to marry this Black guy called Regulus but then eloped to marry Dad. She was disowned, but her aunt died before she could change her will and Mum got this estate. We still got a howler from Mrs Black once a week asking what was wrong with her darling little boy, until the old bat eventually died."

I gaped at her, then shut my mouth quick. "So wizards and witches are into arranged marriages?" I asked.

"Not all… just the batty ones," Alys said with a wide grin on her mouth. "Quite a few of the pure-bloods practise it. Mostly Slytherin families."

"Slytherin?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot you don't know about the houses! There are four of them- Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Your house is meant to meant to say something about yourself, although Mum and Dad won't tell me how it's decided. They say I've got to wait and see for myself."

"So, what do they mean?"

"Well," said Alys' mum, bringing over some more cookies. "Ravenclaw was my house, and they're all supposed to have keen minds and be really intelligent. Gryffindor was what Alys' father was in- they're brave and honourable. Or so they say," she said with a slight smile.

"Slytherins are ambitious, and place great importance on heritage. Hufflepuffs are loyal," continued Alys.

"Your dad was in Gryffindor," Caline informed me. "That's how he and Alan met. I think your grandmother was in Ravenclaw, though, and your grandfather in Hufflepuff… so you see, heritage is no guarantee of house."

"Good thing too or else I'd be in Slytherin and you'd probably have a dark mark on your arm," Alys rolled her eyes at her mother who made to swat her hand away from the plate of cookies.

"Now, be fair, not all Slytherins were bad," she admonished. "My old teacher, Horace Slughorn, he was good at heart… I think..."

"What's a dark mark?" I asked.

Alys and her mother gave each other long looks.

"It was something that happened before you were born," Caline said reluctantly. "A wizard turned bad- really bad. His name was…" -she braced herself as if about to plunge into ice-cold water- "Voldemort. Except everyone calls him You-Know-Who, unless you're one of his servants of course…"

"What happened?" I asked, feeling a twinge of fear. "He was defeated, wasn't he?"

"Well, yes and no. You see he started killing muggles, muggle-borns and blood traitors. It was a time of terror. It was also the reason I ran away. I had made it clear to my family I had no interest in joining the Dark Lord, as is followers called him, and decided to run before he could come after me and force me into service." Oddly, her eyes became misty. "Alys' father helped me run away- and yours, incidentally," she added. "We fell in love, and got married. Your mum and dad also married when he saved her from one of Voldemort's killing sprees and was so smitten with her that he couldn't bring himself to wipe her memory. It was like that at the time- everyone got married really quickly because they were afraid that one of them might suddenly die.

"Anyway, you two were three years old when Voldemort found our friends, the Potters." She stopped and scrubbed an eye vigorously as if to scratch some annoying itch, but I noticed her hand came away wet. "He… he killed Lily and James and then turned on their son, Harry, but the curse rebounded and Voldemort vanished."

I sat in silence for a moment, then picked up on something Caline hadn't said properly. A knack that I have. "Vanished? Not killed?"

"Nobody knows what really happened to him. Harry was only one at the time so he can hardly explain what he did. All we know is that Voldemort has vanished and he may return, but then again," she smiled ironically, "he may not."

I absent-mindedly bit into the cookie.

"You will face great trials!"

"Oh, shut up."


	4. The Journey Begins

**Well, here it is, another chapter. Thank you CaramelBoost, Canoncop and BlckSapphire for your reviews! We're really glad you're enjoying the story!**

* * *

**MEGHAN**

"King's Cross?" I exclaimed.

Dad nodded.

"But that's in London! I thought you said that Hogwarts was in Scotland?"

He nodded again. "There is a train that runs from there to Edinburgh's Waverly Station, but first-years aren't allowed to use it."

"But why _not_?"

He shrugged. "So that they can get to know their classmates, I think. Oh, don't look at me like that, Meg. It's a tradition.

I groaned. Tradition! "So how do you propose to get us down to London in less than half an hour?"

Dad smirked and pointed at the fireplace, where a fire was blazing merrily.

I groaned again, louder this time. I had used Floo powder once before, to get to Alys' house, but it wasn't my favourite form of travel. And Dad knew that very well.

My mum kissed me goodbye as Dad threw some Floo powder into the fire and hoisted my luggage up into our unusually large fireplace. "Enjoy yourself, Meg. Oh yes- I've got something for you."

She pressed a large object that looked a lot like a pocket-watch into my hand. I opened it cautiously, then stared. The clock inside wasn't like a normal clock. It had three hands, each one with a different name on it- the largest said Daniel, the middle one said Gemma and the smallest was labelled Meg -and what would normally be the circle of numbers on the clock was actually symbols; things like a house, a pile of books, a quill and- worryingly- a gravestone.

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "What does it do?"

"It tells you what we're all doing," Mum explained. "The symbols mean things- the house, here, means we're at home, and the pile of books-"

"What's that?" I interrupted, pointing to the gravestone.

"Mortal peril," Dad said, coming up behind me. "But I wouldn't worry too much about that one. I don't think you'll ever see one of us pointing towards it."

He looked down at me and smiled. "Ready, Meg?"

I nodded. "Ready!"

He nodded, stepped into the fire and shouted, "King's Cross Apparition Point!"

He vanished in a whirl of flame.

I turned around and hugged Mum fiercely. Now the time had come to leave, I suddenly felt unready and had to force myself to let Mum go. "I love you!" I said, trying to ignore the sudden lump in my throat.

She smiled, and I saw that her eyes were glistening. "I love you too. Now, enjoy yourself! And don't forget to write!"

I gave her one last hug, then threw in a handful of powder, stepped into the warm fire and shouted, "King's Cross Apparition Point!"

ALYS

I stepped out of the fire at almost the exact same time as Meg stumbled out two fireplaces away from me.

"Hey, Meg!" I called, waving to her. She was looking around at the room. The only decoration was a line of fireplaces on one side of the room and a plain wooden door on the other. Every so often someone would tumble out of a fire or Apparate with a faint pop.

"Alys! Why-"

"No time for questions. Come on!" I grabbed her arm and led her outside, into the Muggle station, where our dads were talking happily and leaning on our trunks. People bustled us, not looking at the door. I guessed that it was like the Leaky Cauldron and couldn't be seen by Muggles.

"Right, then," said my father, rubbing his hands together. "Ready to go?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied. Meg made a noncommittal noise.

As our fathers made off towards platforms 9 and 10, I fell back to talk to Meg. "Nervous?" I asked sympathetically. "I'm feeling a bit the same way myself."

She nodded, uncomfortable. "It's all this magic," she started out awkwardly. "Everyone seems so used to it- you, Lee, Angelina, even my mum, and she's a Muggle. But I feel really out of my depth. And I'm going to a school of magic…"

"What you need to do is…" I hesitated, trying to find the words to express my thoughts. "You need to remember that although we seem used to all of this, our parents hardly let us touch a wand until we got our own. You have an advantage, you know how to survive without magic. I mean, I went to a Muggle school and I still can't use a telephone." I grinned. "I told everyone it was because we couldn't get good enough reception. Anyway, there are heaps of people like you. So don't worry."

We'd now reached the barrier that separated Platforms 9 & 10. I looked expectantly at my dad, who took my arm and we ran at the barrier. Despite the fact that I'd been assured that we'd get through, I was convinced that we would slam into the barrier.

To my relief we did not crash. We went right through and reappeared at a station on the other side. A red train puffed smoke and students swarmed the platform.

A moment after we came through, Meg and her father burst through the barrier. Meg's eyes were tightly screwed shut, but as I watched she opened them and gasped softly.

I sidled up to her. "Amazing or what?"

She laughed, a little unsteadily. "Wow!"

I turned to my dad who looked at me proudly and pulled me into a big hug. "My little girl's growing up. Promise me you'll write."

I was having trouble breathing but managed, "I promise. He let me go and beamed at me, as if he could see into the future and was sure that I'd do great things.

He pulled me into another rib-breaking hug, and I saw over his shoulder that Meg was in the same predicament. We were let go and shooed towards the train.

There was an empty compartment near the door. We stowed our trunks away. Then we leaned out the window to say a last goodbye.

"Now." Meg's father put on a mock stern look. "Try to stay out of trouble."

"Or, if you can't, then try and blame it on someone else," my dad winked at us. The whistle blew and they stepped away from the train, both bellowing over the noise, "Have FUN!"

The train started to move. We waved frantically, but they soon disappeared from sight.

We were finally off to Hogwarts…


	5. Enemies Already

**Alrighty then, here's the next chapter. By the way- Viridian & Velvet now comes WITH PICTURES! Just go onto and search 'Viridian-Velvet'. It should come up with something like 'Are you searching for the photobucket user...'. Just click on the following link and voila!**

**I would put up the link but I'm not sure if that's allowed. The guidelines use very twisty language. Anyone know if I'm allowed to do that?**

**Disclaimer: We own nothing in this story except OCs and shouting fortune cookies. Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

**MEG**

I felt a thrill of excitement as I watched the station fall back, accompanied by a pang as Dad was lost to view. I was about to start my new magical life, but I couldn't help wishing that it didn't involve boarding school.

Alys noticed my quiet. "Cheer up," she said reaching over to give me a hug. "We're off to Hogwarts!"

I nodded but my heart wasn't in it. Alys reached across to her trunk and pulled it open.

"Let's get changed into our uniforms," she suggested. "It'll take your mind off things.

We got changed quickly and I smoothed out my black robes, feeling strange. Alys smiled at me encouragingly and I grinned back.

"Hey shall we try some magic?" she asked.

I nodded, intrigued. Alys pulled out her Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 from her trunk. She flicked through it until she found a good spell.

"Ah, this one looks useful… 'Lumos'" she read. "'When said clearly and with intent, this spell should light the tip of one's wand.' Oh, I remember this… Mum wouldn't let Dad teach me it in case I used it for reading after hours…"

We both held our arms out in front of us, wands pointed forwards. "Lumos!" we commanded, and simultaneously shrieked as a blazing light burst forth from our wands.

We spent the next hour trying many different spells. We noticed a pattern - I was good at the handful of spells that involved turning something into something else. Alys was great at almost everything else.

"So you can help me with Transfiguration and I'll help you with Charms," Alys grinned.

At that moment a woman with a trolley filled with brightly coloured sweet wrappers pushed across the sliding doors and asked, "anything off the trolley, dears?"

Alys leapt of her seat. "Yes, please!" She looked at me. "Split the cost?"

I nodded fervently.

While Alys counted out the money, I turned and stared at my reflection in the glass of the window. Two deep blue in a freckled face stared back, surrounded by wriggly brown curls that came to slightly above my shoulders. I had a sombre expression on my face. Well, that was to be expected. Despite my success with Transfiguration and Alys' encouraging words, I wasn't truly convinced that Hogwarts would accept me. It was just too strange.

_I'll try my best, _I vowed to myself. _After all, it's all I can do._

**

* * *

**

**ALYS**

I quickly dug into a pumpkin pasty. I had forgotten to eat breakfast in my excitement and was famished. I tossed Meg one, who ate it slower than me. I had just opened a chocolate frog when I saw Meg put a Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean into her mouth. It was a green colour.

"NO!"

She looked at me as though I'd done something stupid. "What? It's grape."

I sighed with relief. "Yes but it was green. It could have been anything."

"Like what?" She had obviously never had these sweets before.

"They mean every flavour. For example you can get grass, tea, turkey, roast beef, pepper, sprouts, sardines, tuna…"

Meg held up her hand. "I think I get the idea. What other sweets should I watch out for? A sweet that will burn a hole through my tongue?"

"Oh don't worry," I said cheerfully. "I didn't but any Acid Pops."

Meg's mouth was slightly open, but she didn't have time to say anything as a girl walked in. Her red hair was tied loosely into a bun and she had a smirk on her face that seemed to shout 'Slytherin' at me. Behind her were a boy and a girl, and I decided by the size of the boy to tread carefully.

The girl sneered at me. "Velvet, isn't it? My parents warned me about you. Told me all about the shame your mother brought on the family. She ran off with a mudblood and had you."

I had leapt to my feet getting ready to fight but Mug held me back. The girl's eyes turned to Meg. She raised a slim eyebrow. "And you are?"

"Viridian, Meg Viridian." As she said that the girl suddenly became interested.

"Daughter of the author? Well that's interesting. You should be careful Meg. Velvet here has enemies and she's not even sorted into a house yet. You hang around with her and her enemies become yours." I was struggling to break free of Meg but her grip had tightened in anger at what the girl had said.

"Are you going to tell us your name so we can yell at you, or are we just going to have to chuck you out?" Meg asked her coldly.

"Charlotte Burkes. Try not to forget that Velvet, though if you've inherited your parents intelligence no doubt you will."

That was when I broke free and lunged at Charlotte. The boy grabbed me and I would have kicked him when a voice distracted me.

"Two factions."

I turned to Meg in surprise. Her eyes were glazed and unseeing.

"What did you say?" Charlotte snapped. The rest of us in the room had fallen still, staring at her.

"Two factions standing in this room," Meg rasped in a voice unlike her own. "Alike and yet different, opposites and yet the same. A rivalry will split them, but on the eve of Samhain and the battle of the Chosen One and the Dark Lord, they will stand united and stay so until the end of time."

She slumped in her seat. The rest of us ran out. The intruders went left while I turned right and ran into a prefect with red hair and freckles.

"Help! My friend has collapsed!"


	6. Feeling a little pensieve

**WE'RE NOT DEAD! dances**

**Eh, sorry about the mess on the last page. What I MEANT to say was if you search for Viridian and Velvet on deviantart you'll find some art. ; And also sorry for the alert mess, too. I haven't submitted anything for a while and forgot you couldn't edit stuff after you'd posted it...**

**Anyway! Enough about my messes, already! This chapter is - wait for it - only in Alys' point of view. This one and the next one were originally one big chapter... until I realised that they were just too darn long. So here is the resuly!**

* * *

**ALYS**

"Meg!" I shook her shoulder. The prefect had sent an owl up to Hogwarts and we were approaching the station but Meg was still out of it.

"What do we do?" I asked worriedly.

The prefect looked thoughtful. "I'll go get the Head Girl, you keep trying to wake her up."

He left and I was alone with a collapsed Meg.

"Oh, Meg," I said aloud. "Why don't you wake up?"

I prodded her arm, not really expecting anything to happen, and she sat bolt upright. I stumbled backwards, tripped over my robes and fell to the floor. Meg stood up.

"Where's Charlotte? What happened? How dare she say something like that!"

I stared at her. "You mean you don't remember?" She looked at me, puzzled, and my brain began to whir as I thought about the whole situation. Meg didn't remember what she said. I had only ever read about what that meant. If I was right then we didn't want to spread this around. My dad's words came back: _"If you have any troubles tell Dumbledore. He's completely barmy, but always understands."_

I made up my mind. "You fainted and the others ran off." Meg made a face and I knew she was thinking that she'd made a fool out of herself or something, fainting in front of Charlotte and the others. I wanted to reassure her that she'd actually frightened them off, but I didn't know how to put it without letting on that she'd said anything. "I went and got the prefect who's sorting everything out. I think… we should go see Dumbledore when we get to Hogwarts."

"Why?"

"Er…" I didn't want to scare Meg just yet. "You know what Charlotte said about me having enemies just for being born? Well, I want to see how bad the situation's likely to be. I need you for proof and moral support."

Meg bought my pathetic excuse for a… well, excuse. The door opened and the prefect, who I vaguely remembered telling me his name was Charlie Weasley, entered along with a girl with the Head Girl badge pinned to her robes.

"Ah, you're awake," Charlie said, smiling at Meg. "We've made some arrangements."

He turned to the Head Girl who gave us a reassuring smile. "I'm Jess Morgan. It's traditional to get to Hogwarts by boat in your first year, but you two will be taking the carriages with us."

We nodded. There was not much else we could say.

It was dark when we reached the station. We stepped out onto the platform, following Charlie and Jess. It was dark and confusing. I nearly bumped into a huge man, who was shouting "First years over here!" Charlie guided us away from him and over to some horseless carriages. Everyone was staring at us and I was uncomfortably aware of how small we must look.

Charlie noticed my unease and helped distract me, chatting as we entered the black carriages. "I have two brothers your age. They're in first year too. I would watch out if I were you – they're known pranksters."

I smiled. "I'm sure we'll be able to cope with them."

At that moment, Meg gasped and I looked round. In front of us, Hogwarts Castle had finally come into sight.

The view was astounding. Above us, the keep was silhouetted against the night sky, a big full moon hanging behind it like a crystal orb. Many of its windows were illuminated, their warm glow seeming to twinkle like the eyes of a grandfather looking down at a favourite grandchild. I was suddenly hit by the overwhelming feeling that the castle was alive. I wondered if somehow Hogwarts had developed a mind and personality of its own, after being exposed to so much magic.

There was no doubting it: Hogwarts was magnificent.

We were helped out of the carriage and led to a series of large stone steps where three teachers were waiting. One was a stern-looking witch with her hair in a tight bun, a pair of glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose, who I guessed was Professor McGonagall, judging from my father's descriptions. The second was dressed in the uniform of a Healer- the school nurse, most probably. The third figure was an old wizard with silver hair and a crooked nose on which golden half-moon glasses were perched. I knew instantly who he was.

"Professor Dumbledore?" said Charlie, pulling us over to the waiting teachers. "This is Alys Velvet and Meghan Viridian. Meghan collapsed on the train."

The Healer immediately swooped forward and checked Meg's pulse, peering into her eyes. Professor McGonagall peered over to check that everything was being taken care of, then nodded curtly at Dumbledore and left to go check on the rest of the students. I looked at Dumbledore.

"Er… Professor Dumbledore?" He smiled at me and I made an effort to look straight into his eyes. "May I talk to you in private?"

"Certainly, Miss Velvet. There is a classroom down the hall, I think."

He strode off down the hall, beckoning for the Healer, Meg and I to follow him.

We entered a big, empty classroom with several rows of old desks facing the teacher's one at the front of the room. Dumbledore waved his wand and three chairs zoomed over, planting themselves in front of the teacher's desk. Dumbledore took the big plushy armchair behind it and rested his elbows on the smooth mahogany surface, steepling his fingers and looking over his half-moon glasses at us as we sat down uncomfortably.

"When Meg collapsed, we were arguing with three other first years who insulted my family. Meg's voice went weird and she said something about two factions – and… er… rivalry." It was all fading. I frowned in annoyance. What if it was important?

Dumbledore sensed my trouble. "Poppy, would you be kind enough to get the Pensieve from my office? The password is Chocolate Orange." The nurse left and Dumbledore smiled at us. "I knew your fathers at school. Both in Gryffindor, both with a knack for finding trouble. Along with the two Weasleys, should I be watching out for trouble from you two as well?"

I laughed nervously. I could feel Meg's eyes on me, but I didn't want to turn around and meet them. I knew she would be startled to discover that she'd made – if my theory was correct – a prophecy, all without knowing what was happening.

The nurse came back in with a stone bowl full of water, rather like a hand basin. She placed it on the desk. Dumbledore stood up and drew his wand. "Are you willing to submit a memory, Miss Velvet?" I nodded, a bit apprehensively, and he placed his want to my temple. "I want you to concentrate on the memory. Just do your best."

I concentrated hard on remembering the event in the train compartment. As Dumbledore removed his wand, a silver substance stuck to it and then dropped into the Pensieve.

"That's a memory?" Meg asked in awe. _**My **__memory,_ I thought to myself in wonder.

We looked in the Pensieve and Meg appeared in it. "Two factions standing in this room… Alike yet different, opposites yet the same… A rivalry will split them, but on the eve of Samhain… and the battle of the Chosen One and the Dark Lord… they will stand united and stay so until the end of time."


	7. Unexpected Sortings

**Here is the next chapter. Enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: (oops, forgot to put one of these on my last chapter ; ) Anyway, HP wasn't my idea! Alys is the property of Pyra Opal! That is all.**

* * *

**MEG**

I gaped at the silvery shadow of myself staring unseeingly out of the Pensieve. I couldn't seem to think straight – all I could think was, I can't remember this! I can't remember this! Why can't I remember this?

"Are you alright, sir?" I heard Alys ask.

Dumbledore was staring into the Pensieve, a deep frown on his face.

"To whom does the prophecy refer to?" he questioned. Gone was the kind, friendly tone in his voice. Now he spoke sharply, and straightaway I realised that the prediction was important, and had seriously alarmed the headmaster.

Alys tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I think… it meant all of us. All of us in the room at the time, I mean. Me, Meg, and three other kids – Charlotte Burkes was one – " a grimace flitted across Dumbledore's face and was gone, so fast that I wondered if I had imagined it, " – but I don't think the others said their names. The girl had blue-black hair, and the boy was a kind of red-blonde. He was a big guy and was slightly on the plump side."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "I know the girl. She's Roxanne Cole." He did not elaborate any further, and I felt my curiosity aroused. "But I am not certain of the boy's – "

"Jason Smeaton," supplied the nurse. "He has brothers at the school already. They're haemophiliacs, always in and out of the ward for a Blood-Replenishing potion."

Dumbledore nodded again and rose from his chair. His smile was back and it beamed down at the two of us. "Well," he said, "you two have certainly given me lots to think about." He looked at his watch. "I think the Sorting has started, but if we run, you might just make it. You are at the end of the alphabet after all. So let's go!"

With that, Dumbledore sprinted out of the room.

Alys and I stared at each other, nonplussed, then gave a start and ran out of the room to catch up with our headmaster.

We ran down several staircases, across wide hallways, through narrow passages, along a route that, while certainly longer than the one we came by, nevertheless managed to go by more quickly. Finally we ran through a room with moving pictures on the walls and a roaring fire. Dumbledore stopped at a small door at the far end of the room, putting his ear to the wood.

"Good," he said, "they're only on the 'M's. Now, quickly – "

He opened the door and stepped through it. With some trepidation, we followed him.

We found ourselves behind a table lined with teachers. It looked onto four long tables clad in different colours, red, blue, green and yellow. The severe-looking witch I'd seen earlier was reading out names from a long list.

"Olson, Nick!"

An ill-looking blonde boy walked up to a stool with a scruffy hat on it, picked the hat up, sat down on the stool and pulled the hat onto his head. It came down to below his eyes.

For a moment, everything was silent. I could see the boy trembling from where I stood. Then, a rip opened in the hat and it shouted –

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The yellow-bedecked table burst out in tumultuous applause. Alys and I sneaked over to where the other first-years were standing.

"So this is how everyone is sorted!" Alys whispered.

I nodded, feeling slightly relieved. The excitement of the journey had made me forget about the Sorting, but now I recalled the vague worries that had been keeping me awake in the nights leading up to September the 1st – from big examinations to riddles to dragon-slaying…

"Rall, Saskia!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"She looks like one, too," Alys whispered as the green table exploded with cheers and the snobbish-looking girl went off to join them.

I waited, nerves mounting, as we neared the 'V's. "Stimpson, Patricia" was placed in Gryffindor… then "Sutherland, Eva" in Ravenclaw…

"Towler, Kenneth!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Turner, Jamie!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Velvet, Alys!"

Alys walked up. She was moving slower than normal and I felt a surge of sympathy as I imagined making the long walk, watched by the whole school. Then it struck me – it would be ME making the walk next…

She pulled the hat onto her head. Her hands gripped her robes and she sat there for what seemed like an age. Eventually the hat slowly opened its mouth and shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"

I didn't watch Alys totter off to the blue-decked table. Instead I waited, dry-mouthed, for the next name…

"Viridian, Meghan!"

Trembling, I stepped up to the stool and tugged the hat over my eyes. I waited for a few seconds, then jumped as I heard a voice inside my head.

"Hmm, what's this then?" said the voice. I shivered. It sounded oddly malevolent, but maybe that was just my nerves. "Intriguing. A potent mix of nerve, intellect and… yes… ambition. You would do well in all Houses but Hufflepuff, I think. So I have a dilemma."

The hat fell silent for a long time. I shifted uncomfortably, aware of the hundreds of eyes upon me. Eventually it spoke again.

"A hard choice, very hard indeed. Hmm… perhaps I must take other stimulus… ah, a friendship with Velvet. Well, that shall be profitable. That's it, then – RAVENCLAW!"

I took off the hat and got shakily to my feet as a burst of applause came from the Ravenclaw table. I crossed over to it and sat down next to a beaming Alys.

"Yay!" she said, hugging me. "We're in the same House!"

There were only two people left – "Weasley, Fred" and then "Weasley, George." Both were sorted into Gryffindor. I saw Charlie's features in their faces and realised that these must be his two brothers.

As the Gryffindor table cheered loudly – apparently the Weasleys had several family members already at Hogwarts – I cast my eye around the table, looking for people my own age.

Unexpectedly, my eyes rested on another pair staring right back at me. A familiar pair.

She mouthed two words. I didn't need to be a good lip-reader to know what she was saying.

_Hello, Seer._

I looked away, my heart pounding in my chest.

_Alys said all the nasty ones ended up in Slytherin!_ I thought wildly. _So how has Roxanne Cole ended up in Ravenclaw?_

"Alys," I whispered. "Look over there."

Alys gave me a puzzled glance and then looked down the table. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw Roxanne.

"Merlin! What's _she_ doing here?"

"I don't know," I muttered. "Maybe – "

But Professor Dumbledore had stood up at the high table and clapped his hands for attention.

"Hello, welcome back, work hard, behave yourselves, eat up! Thank you!"

Everyone clapped and cheered as the plates before them filled up with food.

"His idea of a speech," an older boy informed me. "Everything anyone else says, crammed into 10 or less words."

We tucked in, trying to taste everything while leaving room for whatever was to come next. Everyone was really enjoying themselves, but I couldn't shake the feeling that Roxanne was still watching me from further down the table.

Trying to avoid her and her cool blue eyes, I looked up at the High Table and saw Dumbledore leave with four other teachers.

I frowned.

_I wonder where _they're_ going?_


	8. Interlude

**Ta-da! Another chapter of serious stuff! Hopefully, now I've kinda got back into this storyline (er... HP-ness comes on in waves for me) you'll be seeing a lot more updates, not just this mad rush that is happening just now. **

**This is me getting all the old stuff out of the way. Oddly enough, I feel that even in the short time I've been away, my writing style has improved a lot. So after this chapter... who knows?**

**Meg (c) me. Alys (c) Pyra Opal. Charlotte & team, and most randomers, (c) the both of us. As for everything else... JK's work, everyone!**

* * *

_Dumbledore paced the firelit room. The other teachers present watched him, faces displaying a mixture of worry, fear and confusion, except for one hook-nosed man, whose face was pallid and inscrutable as always._

_At last one of the witches spoke. "What does this mean, Albus?"_

_"I cannot be certain, Pomona," Dumbledore replied, not ceasing in his relentless pacing. "It is like most prophecies – predictably cryptic, if you'll excuse the pun."_

_"Pardon me for asking this," squeaked the smallest member of the group, "but I have not had much experience with prophecies. Why are we concerned? Surely the prophecy says that these children will team up and fight against the Dark Lord? That has to be a good thing, doesn't it?"_

_Dumbledore finally slowed, and shook his head. "Unfortunately, it does not say that. If you recall the last sentence – "They will stand united and stay so until the end of time." It mentions nothing about which side they will stand for. These girls and this boy could quite easily turn out to be Death Eaters – and important ones too, if a prophecy has been spoken about them."_

_The small wizard looked taken aback. "But they're Ravenclaws! Not – " He gave a quick look to the hook-nosed man and stopped short._

_"House is no guarantee of goodness," said the second, taller witch reluctantly. "If you will recall, Sirius Black was a Gryffindor."_

_"Minerva is right," nodded Dumbledore. "There are no guarantees about which way a witch or wizard will turn."_

_The room was silent. Finally, the hook-nosed wizard began to speak._

_"I do not believe we have much to concern us with here," he said in a bored voice._

_Professor McGonagall regarded him with unfriendly eyes. "And why is that, Severus?"_

_"Because of the last line, the one which is giving you such worry," he replied. "That line does not sound plausible. How can two groups who are so radically different remain as friends for all eternity? It seems to me that this prophecy predicts something else."_

_"And what is that?"_

_"Death," he answered. "Meghan Viridian has made a prophecy of her own demise."_


End file.
